The crazy thing is that for the most part, GI JOE (and many other Hasbro lines) are packed (initially) with 2 of each new figure. Something about Star Wars must have somebody in the bean counting pod really vexed or there is something wrong with their "Metrics".

Well, they were-- usually higher than 1-per-box ratios were sold primarily as dotcom cases, some of which made it to the stores and some didn't. Most of the cases from 2007 onward were pretty stingy with the new guys as Star Wars went, GI Joe was largely 1 per case in the bulk of the 25th Anniversary line, Pursuit of Cobra has been either 1 or 2-- depending on the revision. (Wave 3 and 4 were nice, though.)

I think they're balancing cases toward a more retail-friendly ratio, which is a mixed bag. It's not the Darth Vader or Boba Fett repacks that are the pegwarmers...

The real issue seems to be TRU never got anything past wave 2-- correct me if I'm wrong, I've never seen anything new there-- while Wal-Marts seem to get a lot (that goes within a day, up to wave 6) and Target seems to be getting up to wave 5 and I don't think I've seen much if any wave 6 there. The ratios aren't terrible, but there's no new product shipping at some stores.

Transformers is even worse. There's a whole subline called "Reveal the Shield." About nine of those toys got distributed to stores, with another 12+ that-- as far as can be told-- have been available in Australia, Canda, and/or the UK since last year and have never hit American big box stores. They've essentially become US online exclusives, despite stores being out of product, nobody's getting them. It's surreal-- hundreds of thousands of dollars in development were wasted due to poor distribution. New tooling down the crapper.

I can actually find the new SW guys-- but as far as I can tell nobody saw the new Transformers unless you bought online or through a distributor (like the one I work at).

The Target cases seem to vary on your area. I'm like your area in that I have seen nothing but Wave 5, but when Target (finally) started to actually stock new Vintage the first reports were Wave 6 in abundance... I forget what areas saw that, but Pittsburgh sure hasn't been that way (in general). That was where the first instances of the "fixed" figures for Wave 6 seemed to surface though.

And after that first push of Wave 5, my Targets are back down to just Wave 1 pegwarmers and nothing more, complete with the black circles pulled out to the end of the pegs so each peg only accomodates 1 or 2 figures.

It really does seem like it varies by area a lot, but nowhere seems to be particularly plentiful. Our TRU, like many others, has basically had nothing past Wave 2 - and not much of that either. Our Wal-Mart, while it has the most space available for TVC, has had nothing but solid pegs of the Sandtrooper and ROTS Clone (and maybe one or two other odd figures) for months upon months now. Barring a clearance, those aren't going anywhere, and I don't expect to see anything new there soon. Our closest Target had next to nothing for a long time (a couple of 4-LOMs), but recently has started getting a few new things. I've seen Wave 5 a couple times, and recently even seen Wave 6 there twice now (Lando, Weequay, etc.). Other than that, there hasn't been much new in a long time at any of our local stores. Anyways...back to the Q and A now.

My Wal-Marts are starting to get in lots of Waves 5 and 6. That's usually how it is though... about 2 months after a wave hits, Wal-Mart gets in multiple cases, and 90% of the figures from that wave are easy to find. The last 2 years there have been dry spells but that's happening all over the country so I've gotten used to it. Target gets in a ton of the first/second waves of a new toy line and then never restocks. TRU is basically the same except they never sell anything because of their insane prices.

But yeah, even though Wal-Mart still has a glutton of ROTS Clones, they're starting to get new stuff in, which can only be good. Hopefully this continues. I've seen only bare pegs at Target since November/December when they got the ROTS wave before everyone else. TRU, I think I've been there once since August.

The thing with WM for me is that they've been getitng in stuff ALL year, they just sell through really fast and if you're not there semi-routinely, you're probably just missing it.

For instance the store I hit the most, I hit usually two or three times in a weekend... I don't hit it much during the week.

This store is the usual sea of ROTS Clones, ROTS Obi-Wans, a few Sandtroopers, and a few Anakins. Basically every peg is pretty full for Vintage.

So, say I go Friday... there's suddenly a straggler figure from a new case. Indications that something new was put out this week, but I just missed everything. Saturday maybe I have to go back... nothing. Sunday I have to go back because it's close and I have to get some food... Suddenly more stragglers from a case have shown up, maybe some good figures too... Case somehow wound up out there again Sunday.

This store has steadily been this way, all year long, and into last year pretty much.

The same, but more spread out in my trips to them, can be said for almost every other WM I hit... That's 5 or 6 WM's I can think of off the top of my head by the way. I hit all the others much more sporadically, but I'll stop in... Stragglers from a case of Wave 4. A week or two later I stop in, some Wave 5 are around. And so on... Sometimes I walk in a fresh case has been put out too. I walk out with half the case myself even maybe, depending what's there.

These "1 per case" ratios make it really easy to basically miss an entire case of figures getting opened and put out, for sure. WM's actually done really well on distribution it seems, despite the ROTS Clone messing up things.

If you took THAT figure out of the equation, I think things would be flowing like WM just ate Colon Blow for breakfast. It wouldn't be one case here and there, it'd be multiple cases (assuming some other figure didn't just replace the ROTS Clone as the proverbial turd that won't flush). That's not too shabby then, really...

Target, K-Mart, and TRU need to fix themselves. TRU needs to be more competitive, K-Mart just needs to order something (and being more competitive wouldn't kill them either, but they do run sales and have a rewards program that is actually valuable to consumers to some degree), and Target just needs to order stuff at this point. WM's the only store that folks can cite where Hasbro has done something to screw the system, and it's that Clone basically.

Ideally, Hasbro would remove all ROTS Clones... but he's in a case or two yet, so you're still not going to eliminate the figure I'm afraid. Like I said, the perils of making assortments so far out without being able to change things late.

I think the availability of new cases varies from store to store. The two walmarts within 7 miles of my house have a very slow turnover rate and usually never get past the first couple of waves. I have to go about 20 miles to find the targets and walmarts that have turnover like you are describing. With the price of gas so high, along with spotty results at best, even at the good stores, It is pricing me out of weekly hunts very quickly. I am almost to the point where I will wait for the surplus to hit HTS and order from there. IF they ever make it that far.

I think it varies too of course, nobody's stores are the same, and not even all the ones I visit are the same.

But my stores are only getting a case in at a time (generally... the next closest store actually just got at least 2 cases of Wave 6 fixer-upper assortment). If your store is only getting one case in here and there, you're just as likely not seeing any of the figures they may get too, till nobody in your area is buying... Sometimes I'm only aware a new case turned up because I see a repack that wasn't there before or something. A "Vader" card Anakin turned up for instance, and it was either a return or a sign a new case was there. It wasn't there last weekend though.

When figures are all 1 to a case though, it's pretty easy for a case to get wiped out by one guy these days. I know I've bought full sets of figures, and left basically no distinct sign anything new was there.

-Deluxe Figure w/Vehicles are taking a new, cool turn with made-up stuff... It's all Clone Wars though. Any chance any of it may be from the OT?

-Cat's out of the bag on that Taun-Taun, and that it obviously seems designed for re-use in the future. Would you redesign a Han Figure to ride it though, or re-use parts that exist and just add some new articulation to the legs or something?

Just reading around it seems Hasbro were pretty brief with their replies this series, which is a little disappointing.

"We are continuing to explore including OTC vehicles in this segment." Nothing on the idea of updating the Kenner mini-rigs, nothing on new just-off-screen inspired OT sets. Just a nice vague, 'maybe we'll do OT someday'.

Also this answer from Yakface, where Hasbro basically glosses over the RFT holster issue and focuses on "we couldn't get the staff in the package" even though they could have given him a bigger bubble (like the Gamorrean or Grievous).

Plus, ok, you focused like a laser on making him a Yavin Rebel... but on the card he's on the Tantive IV fighting. Uh... ok. Don't get me wrong, like the leg flares, hat, and price-scanner, but answer the f'n holster question.

The entire round was filled with very short answers that didn't delve into much, and barely (if at all) answered the question they were asked.

I like Hasbro's SW team, and I get that they're busy, but one story right below the SW Q&A on the front page is the GI Joe Q&A... It was answered almost immediately first, but also, they let us ask 3 questions (they pick which they'll answer), and check out those answers. Seriously, check them out. They're really interesting.

A lot of good questions were asked... A lot of the questions got glossed over with non-answers, half-answers, etc., and that sorta sucks.

I think they often give pretty decent repleis, but this round even I'm kind of rolling my eyes at it... I mean, the holster was obviously what was being asked, and it was 100% ignored. Our question on the OT Mini-Rigs was pretty specific, and it was ignored... Hell, the question on the "riders" for the new Taun-Tauns was specific too. The answers just seem really meh, from all around.

I think non answers are industry wide. Diamond select was the same way with Star Trek before it imploded. A lot of gray and no black and white. Margins must be real tight in the toy business. I wonder how much a company had to spend for a Dengar that might spend years on the pegs, even as core fans got there fill of that great figure right away?

I think non answers are industry wide. Diamond select was the same way with Star Trek before it imploded. A lot of gray and no black and white. Margins must be real tight in the toy business. I wonder how much a company had to spend for a Dengar that might spend years on the pegs, even as core fans got there fill of that great figure right away?

True dat. I remember the POTF2 Dengar being a pegwarmer back in the day.

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